Shoe-fastening



I (No Model.)

G. A. WELD.

SHOBFASTENING. No. 505,866. Patented Oct. 3, 1893.

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I? a, -Zipvenor, I f j Geozyefi weld 5 was} UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE A. WELD, OF WINCHESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

SHOE-FASTENING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 505,865, dated October3, 1893.

Application filed September 5 1892. Serial No. 445,120. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. WELD, of Winchester, county of Middlesex,State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Fastenings forShoes and other Objects, of which the following description, inconnection with the accompanying drawings, is aspecification, likeletters on the drawings representing like parts.

My invention relates to a fastening device or buckle such as used tofasten together the corners of the quarter of a shoe over the instep, orfor other analogous purposes.

The invention is shown embodied in a buckle of that class which iscomposed of two members, one permanently secured to each of the parts tobe fastened together, one of which members may be for convenience calledthe tongue member, and the other the take 11p plate. The tongue memberhas a tongue or lever pivotally connected with a frame piece or tongueplate, and the take up plate has a series of openings through which thetongue of the tongue member may be passed and then folded down so as toengage the two members and prevent them from pulling apart under astrain applied to the parts that are fastened together by said members.

The present invention consists partly in the construction of the shankor part by which the buckle members are permanently secured to theleather or other material of the article to be fastened by them. Suchfastening members have been secured to the material by rivets ofordinary construction, but such rivets are objectionable as they are aptto pull through or break away from the leather or material to which thefastening member is attached, and in some cases two-pronged riv- 'ets orstaples have been used, the prongs passing through separate openings inthe shank of the fastening member, butsuch device as heretoforeconstructed, is objectionable as it produces too great rigidity in theconnection between the buckle member and the leather, preventing freeswiveling movement of the former on the latter and thus producingtorsional strain on the leather and attaching device by which they areliable to be soon pulled apart or broken away.

Inthe present invention a two pronged staple-like attaching device isused, and the shank or attaching portion of the buckle member isprovided with two curved openings of considerable extent separated by anintervening bridge or cross bar, the said curved openings being ofconsiderably greater c1rcumferential length than the width of the stapleprongs which are passed through them and clinched in the leather. Theintervening bridge is thus securely held between the head of the stapleand the leather,but owing ed out.

' Figure l is a plan view of the two members of thebuckle or fastening,the tongue member being shown as secured to the leather or material tobe fastened, while the other member is shown detached to illustrate theconstruction of the part with which the attaching staple engages. Fig. 2is a longitudinal section of the tongue plate member and material towhich it is fastened, on an enlarged scale; Fig. 3 an end view of thebase plate of the tongue member; Fig. 4 a sectional detail thereof, online m, Fig. 1; Fig. 5 a plan view of the tongue detached; Fig. 6 a planview of the base plate of the tongue member detached; Fig. 7 a planviewof the spring plate of the tongue member detached; Fig. 8 a side view ofthe tongue member in closed position, enlarged, and Figs. 9 and 10 sideViews of one of the pronged attaching devices.

The take up plate a may be of usual construction except the shank, orportion by which it is connected with the leather or material of thearticle to be fastened, the said take up plate being an elongated plateusually curved from end to end to correspond to the curvature of theinstep of the foot and being provided with a series of openings a toreceive the tongueb of the tongue plate member of the fastening device.

The shank portion afiorend ofthe take up plate by which it ispermanently attached to the material is of the same construction as theshank portion 79 of the tongue plate, so that one description willanswer for both.

The shank portion of the buckle members is constructed to be attached bya two-pronged or staple-like fastening 0 such as shown in Figs. 9 and10, such fastening affording a greater hold on the leather or material dsee Figs. 1 and 2, than the solid or split shank rivets commonly used.

In order to provide for the secure engagement of the button member bythe rivet and at the same time to permit the buckle memher to have aswiveling movement sufficient to accommodate it to the variouspositionsrequired in use without bringing torsional strain on theattaching parts, the said shank portions a and 12 of the buckle membersare provided with openings eof the form best shown on the shank portiona Fig. 1, and b Fig. 6, the said openings 6 being curved on their outeredges and separated by an intervening bridge or cross bar 6 thecurvature vided with lateral ears or PI'OJGOUOHS 1) constituting thepintle or pivotal bearing on of the outer edges of the two openingsbeing portions of the same circle and constituting substantially acircular opening of a diameter equal to or slightly greater than thediameter of the head of the attaching staple c, spanned by a diametriccross bar or bridge. The circumferential length of the openings e isconsiderably greater than the width of the staple legs 0 see Fig; 2,

which pass through the said openings, as shown at the right hand in Fig.1, and in Fig. 2, one at each side of the bridge e thus securelyattaching the shank of the fastening member to the leather or material01 while permitting a free swiveling movement of the former on thelatter through a considerable angle as indicated by the full and dottedlines at the right hand in Fig. 1, which show one half of the range ofthe swiveling movement of the tongue member of the fastening, it beingcapable of moving an equal distance to the other side of thecentral ornormal position. Such swiveling movement accommodates all the changes ofposition that are required: in the use of the buckle owing to slightvariations in the line of pull from one member to the other withoutbringing torsional strain either upon theattaching device or upon theportion of the fabric engaged by its prongs, and thus afiords a durableattachment for the buckle members.

The attaching portion of the shank of each of the buckle members isdepressed below the general level of the shank as best shown in Fig. 2,thus afiording a guide for the nose of the instrument by which thestaples are driven, and also slightly sinking the head of the staplewith relation to the general level of the upper surface of the buckleplate,-which improves its appearance and is an advantage in the use ofthe buckle.

The side of the bridge piece 6 nearest the end of the buckle member isprovided with member. jvidedwithlongitudinalcorrugations as shown as bwhich strengthen and stifit'en it; and said a central notch or recess ewhich is to accommodate the wire upon which the buckle members arestrung for the purpose of japanning in the process of manufacture thesaid depression affording ample space for the wire upon which the piecesare strung preparatory to dipping in japan and supporting them while thejapan is being baked or hardened.

The attaching device 0 has its prongs 0 passed through the material, andthen clinched, or curled inward toward one another as shown in Fig. 2,passing back through the material d, and bringing up finally on thecross piece 6 unless the material d is so thick that the prongs arefully clinched before reaching the said bridge piece. A two prongedfastening of this kind takes a very secure hold upon the material dandthe conit struction of the shank portion of the buckle 1 membercooperating therewith as described overcomes the objections that havebeen heretofore found in the attempts to use a two 'pronged attachingdevice of this kind.

The tongue I) of the fastening device is prowhich the tongue turns inthe operation of forward end of the base plate 11 0f the tongue Thesides of the baseplate are pro base plate is made of untem peredmaterial,

as it does not haveto have any spring action, and is therefore verystrong.

In order to improve the operation of the tongue I) or to hold itintheextreme'positi'on 'to which it is turned in co-operating with thetake up plate a, the said. tongue is provided 'withia cam extension 17beyond its pivotal 1 axis which is acted upon by a spring plate 12ifastening to the base plate 6 by arivet b or other suitable fastening.The said spring plate is somewhat wider than the base plate and isprovided with openings 19 through i which the pivot loops bpass'soastoproject above the spring-plate and afford the bearing forthetake upplate a. The sides of the spring plate are depressed withrelation to the middle portion so that theside portions of the springplate lie close to the base plate b while the middle portion of saidspring plate is-raised with relation to said side portions, as bestshown in Figs. 3 and 4, to co-operatewith the cam portionb of thetongue. By this construction the spring plate has-nosharp corners orprojections to catchon anything,

which is a great advantage, and at the same breakable and practicallycertain to outlast any article with which they may be used as afastening device. The spring plate, being however, continuous along itsfront edge across the middle of the fastening is furthermore itself muchmore durable and less likely to be broken than when bifurcated ordivided by a central slot or opening into two branches one at each sideof the base plate and tongue.

I claim 1. A fastening device for shoes and the like, consistingessentially of a tongue member and a cooperating member provided with anopening to receive the tongue of the tongue member, said fasteningmember having at one end an attaching portion or shank provided'withcurved openings e, e, and a cross bar e to receive the prongs of anattaching device of considerably less width than the length of theopenings so as to enable the said fastening member to receive swivelingmovement on its said attaching device, the tongue member being providedwith a tongue hinged thereto near the end remote from the attachingdevice and adapted to be engaged with and disengaged from thecooperating memher by the hinging movement'of said tongue, substantiallyas described.

2. In a fastening device for shoes and the like, a base plate havingbearing loops b", a tongue having pintles engaged with said loops andalso having a cam-projection b and a spring plate b secured to saidplate, of greater Width than the latter, continuous across its frontedge and provided with recesses to receive the said bearing loops,substantially as described.

3. A fastening device for shoes and the like, consisting essentially ofa base plate and a take-up plate, each having curved openings 6, e, anda cross-bar c at one end to receive fastening devices of considerablyless size than the length of the openings so as to enable the saidplates to receive swiveling movement on such fastenings, a tongue hingedto the base plate in bearings therein, and a spring applied to such baseplate and engaging the tongue, substantially as described;

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses. 1

GEORGE A. WELD.

Witnesses:

J os. P. LIVERMORE, M. E. HILL.

